The Future Is Today

Launch a manual gearbox car? Here's what you're doing to it

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You have a car with a manual gearbox. It’s a fun car, so you want to go actually have fun with it. That means you might want to, on occasion, launch forward aggressively from a stop. You’re going to raise your revs, dump your clutch, and enjoy some engaging forward acceleration.

Do you know what you’re doing to the car when you do this though? You should be aware.

Engineering Explained is ready to walk you through exactly what’s going on when you launch your manual transmission-equipped vehicle.

Clearly, when you dump your clutch to get an aggressive launch, you’re going to put some stress on various parts of your car. Your clutch, transmission, and all the components of the drive line. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t launch like this on occasion, but rather that you should understand what you’re doing to your car.

A fast launch is part of the fun of owning any car, be it one with a manual gearbox or one packing some form of an automatic. Your car has engine with some power, and you want to experience said power. Rev up your engine and give it a go. Do it right, and you’ll rip off a great blast from 0-60 miles per hour. Do it wrong, and you might just fry that clutch of yours.

Watch the video above for some tips on how to avoid that.

Next, we want to see the host of EE try this with something that sends power only to the rear wheels. All-wheel-drive launches are easy enough.